The Dukan Diet (named after the French doctor who came up with it, Dr. Pierre Dukan) has won over a large part of France--there are rumors that even Kate Middleton and her mother are using it to shed some pre-wedding pounds (on our side of the pond, it's said that Jennifer Lopez and Nicole Kidman are fans).

It's a high-protein, low-fat diet that doesn't count calories, broken into four stages (attack, cruise, consolidation, and stabilization). From the New York Times: "The first [stage] encourages dieters to eat as much as they want of nonfatty, protein rich foods, including oat bran ... washed down with oceans of water. The second stage introduces vegetables, but no fruit; the third brings with it two slices of bread, a serving of cheese and fruit and two servings of carbohydrates a day, with two weekly 'celebration' meals with wine and dessert (the diet is French, after all); and the final stage six days a week of 'anything goes' and one day of reversion to strict protein-only stage one--for the rest of your life."

The prescribed exercise: a 20-minute walk once a day and "total elevator avoidance."

The diet has drawn criticism. Reports Jezebel: "... the regimen's critics level the same complaints they did during the low-carb scourge of the early aughts. Dukan has been dismissed as a charismatic charlatan promising quick fixes, and worse. Says one British dietician, 'We call it the ‘Do-can't' diet...Even if you can survive it for the first few days, it's hard to stick with it. It's hard on your kidneys. And it's expensive.'"

Expense or not, many are saying oui.

Have you ever gone on a high protein diet? What do you think of the Dukan way of eating? Would you try it?